Sky 5 showed flames shooting out of the temple’s roof, and windows on the building had been knocked out.

Large crowds have gathered at street corners and in parking lots in Quincy Center, as black-charred debris rained down from the smoldering temple.

The temple, located at 1170 Hancock St., was built in 1926 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in the late 1980s.

The Quincy Masonic Temple, a neoclassical structure built in 1926 for the Freemasons, was valued by Quincy assessors at $3 million.

Hanover-based broker 1st US Realty listed the property for sale over the summer.

Leo Martin, a Quincy realtor who has agreed to purchase the temple, told the Patriot Ledger the fire started shortly after noon when two of his employees were "grinding out a heat line" in the basement, and the insulation caught fire. The two employees exited the building safely, Martin told the Patriot Ledger.

Authorities secured a two block radius around the fire. Nearby apartments were not immediately evacuated.

The building is located near the Quincy Center Red Line Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority station.

The MBTA said Route 210 and 12 other routes were diverted around the Hancock St. side of the Quincy Center Station due to the fire.

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